SACRIFICE are returning in discography after 16 years and the title of the album is self-explanatory. This is their sixth full-length album. The strange thing is that the time – space between their 4th and 5th album was also 16 years, (1993 to 2009) because they had disbanded from 1993 to 2006. Hopefully, it’s not going to be another 16 years for their next album to be released!
I need to highlight that we are dealing with a historic return, from an old school thrash metal band that achieved their magnum-opus, their highest popularity back in the ‘80s and early ‘90s, especially with their first 3 albums. For the younger metalheads that read these lines, just to remind them that SACRIFICE were considered one of the Big – 4 of Canadian thrash metal bands in the ‘80s alongside with VOIVOD, RAZOR and ANNIHILATOR.
Another thing that I find extra-ordinary about the band is that they keep their original classic line-up all these years for all their official full-length releases.
Thus, the band’s quartet continue together for all those years from around 1985-86. Rob Urbinati is in guitar and vocals, Joe Rico in guitar as well, Scott Watts in bass and Gus Pynn in drums.
The album was recorded and mixed at Phase One Studios in Toronto between September 2023 and May 2024 with engineer Darius Szepaniak.
My impression is that the production of the album is exceptional. All instruments can be heard crystal clear and distinct, without being over-produced or sounding ‘’sterile or plastic’’, which is a serious problem in modern thrash metal releases. While the classic era albums had not so strong production back in the day, ‘’Volume Six’’ does have a fine, solid production, without losing the old-school vibe and the organic feeling of the sound.
‘’Volume Six’’ blasts off with ‘’Comatose’’ a classic SACRIFICE style fast tempo song, with the distinctive raw and harsh vocals from Rob Urbinati, that some fans may think they are reminiscent of ONSLAUGHT for instance. ‘’Antidote of Poison’’ which comes next, has a very catchy, ominous mid-tempo SLAYER-like riff that progressively leads to a fast-galloping outburst.
‘’Missile’’ is another mid- to fast tempo song, well structured and with inspiring solos. ‘’Underneath Millenia’’, on the contrary has a slower tempo, where the vocals and the recital of the lyrics get indeed reminiscent of Chuck Schuldiner and DEATH, although there is a hardcore vibe in the middle of the song. The same, regarding the vocals, goes for the mid-tempo track ‘’Your Hunger for War’’.
‘’Incoming Mass Extinction’’ and ‘’Explode’’ are 2 of the fastest songs in the album, that prevail as thrash metal dynamites. There are also 2 fine instrumental tracks. These are the ‘’Lunar Eclipse’’ and the ‘’Black Hashish’’, with the latter having a very fierce slow tempo middle-eastern vibe regarding the riffs.
In the last 2 tracks of the album, ‘’We Will not Survive’’ and the cover-track ‘’Trapped in a World’’ of a song from the Canadian hardcore band DIRECT ACTION, that features Brian Taylor, producer of their first 3 albums, all the hardcore and punk influences of SACRIFICE, emerge in the surface. It felt like that they wished to pay a tribute to a scene they always had some kind of close connection.
Overall, ‘’Volume Six’’ stands high and up to the band’s historic legacy and status, as one of the best Canadian thrash metal bands. Thrash metal fans should feel more than satisfied with this release, while the long-time old-school fans of the band have all the reasons to feel excited that SACRIFICE are back and relevant to today’s thrash metal scene.
‘’ Volume Six’’ has been released on the 24th of January 2025 by High Roller Records worldwide, except North America, where the release will be handled by Cursed Blessings Records. It is available on LP, CD, MC and Digital format (as of 21st of February 2025).
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Check the discussion about the album in our forum pages.